Quotations from Mother Goose and Macbeth (as well as the Emily Dickinson snippet of the title) provide the chapter headings in this engaging novel of suspense. The apparent peculiarity of such juxtaposition brings home the brutality of those childhood rhymes and the dangers of obsession and revenge. Both serve Mary Willis Walker's purpose well in setting up this tightly constructed mystery in which investigative journalist Molly Cates's own obsession with her father's untimely death from 30 years before gets mixed up in a current and far more dangerous scheme to release chemical gases into the Senate chamber of the Texas Capitol. The two plots, the first a traditional mystery, the second more a tale of suspense, are unconnected except for Cates's involvement; she is obviously central to one and initially only tangential to the other. Such a device would have proved unwieldy in less skillful hands, but in Walker's case the disparate strands are brought together beautifully, and Cates has a suitable sense of her own fallibility and the difficulty of harboring hate for the better part of a generation.

Walker's previous three novels have won six mystery-writers awards among them. All the Dead Lie Down is solid enough to continue the tradition set by the others. Within it there is much to relish: sensitive consideration of homelessness, thought-provoking questions about gun control, and a wry appreciation for the charm and arrogance of the Lone Star State and its citizens ("Texans do not scrimp on stars."). Indeed, Walker's sense of place--from Lubbock's dust and dry desolation to Austin's trendiness and political maneuvering--is sure and confident. There are moments when the worst of the perpetrators of the chemical weapons scare is portrayed simplistically, but this is more than made up for by the complexity of the other characters: the vagrants who discover the danger as well as the ghosts, both past and present, who haunt Molly in her investigations of her father's past. An excellent read, for even the most jaded of mystery lovers.


From Publishers Weekly
While napping under the deck of an Austin, Tex., restaurant, a homeless woman called Cow Lady is awakened by talk overhead of a lethal gas soon to be released in the Texas State Capitol building. From there, Walker switches to the Capitol building, where Molly Cates, an investigative reporter last seen in Under the Beetle's Cellar (1995), is working on a story about the upcoming vote on a handgun bill. Cates runs into the man who had been sheriff when her father died 25 years earlier. Although her father's death by gunshot was judged suicide, Cates has never given up her belief that he was murdered and that the sheriff suppressed evidence of the crime. She's determined to resume her intensive personal investigation, despite the advice of her lover (who is also her former husband) and old family friends, including a state senator and his wife. Cates is out of town when a homeless woman?not Cow Lady but wearing Cow Lady's black and white coat?is murdered. From its compelling beginning to the extended conclusion, which moves from the depths of a garbage dump to the Capitol, Walker conjures a memorable, disparate cast. Only a few seams show as she connects the political conspiracy, the homeless community and the unexpected?and entirely satisfying?explanation for the death of Cates's father. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Texas-born actress Judith Ivey reads this third book in Mary Willis Walker's highly acclaimed mystery series featuring Molly Cates, magazine journalist for Lone Star Monthly (see The Red Scream, Audio Reviews, LJ 6/1/96). Molly is simultaneously researching a highly charged bill before the Texas legislature that would permit the granting of licenses to carry concealed weapons and a story about five homeless women that tracks them through a year of their lives. She becomes further distracted by the reappearance of key players related to her father's untimely death 28 years earlier-officially ruled a suicide, although Molly had at the time tried unsuccessfully to prove otherwise. Walker is deft at weaving the many strands of this plot into a cohesive and suspenseful fabric, and her characters come alive despite the abridgment. Ivey is an excellent choice for reader of the Molly Cates series, delivering the voices of the region in all their diversity. Recommended.?Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Though she's put in her time on wild and wooly cases (Under the Beetle's Cellar, 1995, etc.), Lone Star Monthly writer Molly Cates has never run her biggest story to earth: the mystery of her father Vernon's death, labeled a suicide by everybody but Molly for nearly 30 years. Now a chance sighting of Franny Lawrence Quinlan, Vernon's ex-fiance, and Olin Crocker, the crooked sheriff Molly is convinced killed the investigation, puts her back on the scent, even though everybody she talks tofrom her godparents, Parnell and Rose Morrisey, to Frank Quinlan, the rival she was convinced had pulled the trigger to prevent Vernon's expos of his family's oil companytells her the evidence of suicide is clear, and she'll be sorry if she reopens the case. Meantime, a second, even more momentous story is knocking on her door, if only she'd listen: Sarah Jane Hurley, a.k.a. Cow Lady, a friend of a retarded bag lady Molly interviewed for a story on street people, has overheard a plot to end the debate on a proposed law to allow concealed handguns by blowing up the Senate chambers, together with all those mostly unarmed legislators, in the Austin State House. Searingly effective grace notes by the dozenMolly's merciless badgering of her senile Aunt Harriet for evidence, her interview with a feisty former hooker, her fear that plotting revenge against Olin Crocker is turning her into one of the vigilantes she despisesbring Walker's conventional double plot to a vivid life. (Literary Guild selection; Mystery Guild selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
“delivers an irresistible mix of laughter, tears, fear, heartache, and, of course, suspense.” –Booklist

“The year’s best. Molly Cates makes mistakes, holds grudges like the rest of us, and lingers in the imagination....Superb.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“An intriguing blend of capitol mayhem and capital
murder...absorbing and suspenseful. A first-rate thriller.”
–The Dallas Morning News

“Walker makes it hard for readers to catch their breath.” –The Plain Dealer

“Will absorb you in its mystery plot, transport you with its sense of place, and enthrall you with its characters.”–Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Review
?delivers an irresistible mix of laughter, tears, fear, heartache, and, of course, suspense.? ?Booklist

?The year?s best. Molly Cates makes mistakes, holds grudges like the rest of us, and lingers in the imagination....Superb.? ?The Philadelphia Inquirer

?An intriguing blend of capitol mayhem and capital
murder...absorbing and suspenseful. A first-rate thriller.?
?The Dallas Morning News

?Walker makes it hard for readers to catch their breath.? ?The Plain Dealer

?Will absorb you in its mystery plot, transport you with its sense of place, and enthrall you with its characters.??Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Book Description
When crime reporter Molly Cates’s father died more than twenty-five years ago, the case was ruled a suicide, and Molly’s efforts to prove otherwise led to nothing but anguish and the breakup of her family. But now new information has come her way and she reopens the investigation–and a rush of old wounds–with a vengeance. Soon the personal becomes dangerously political as Molly’s search for the truth leads her from the stately halls of Texas government to the mean streets of Austin’s down-and-out–and ultimately to a moral dilemma she never could have anticipated.


From the Publisher
Rave Reviews for Mary Willis Walker:Under the Beetle's Cellar:"A knockout novel...will leave readers cheering, weeping and gasping for breath."
"Don't pick up this one unless you have time to read it all, because you are not going to be able to put it down."
The Red Scream:"Like a vicious pit bull, The Red Scream grabs you by the throat and never lets go."
"An assured trip through that upper reach of Texas society where money mostly buys trouble...clever and readable."



From the Inside Flap
When crime reporter Molly Cates’s father died more than twenty-five years ago, the case was ruled a suicide, and Molly’s efforts to prove otherwise led to nothing but anguish and the breakup of her family. But now new information has come her way and she reopens the investigation–and a rush of old wounds–with a vengeance. Soon the personal becomes dangerously political as Molly’s search for the truth leads her from the stately halls of Texas government to the mean streets of Austin’s down-and-out–and ultimately to a moral dilemma she never could have anticipated.


From the Back Cover
“delivers an irresistible mix of laughter, tears, fear, heartache, and, of course, suspense.” –Booklist

“The year’s best. Molly Cates makes mistakes, holds grudges like the rest of us, and lingers in the imagination....Superb.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“An intriguing blend of capitol mayhem and capital
murder...absorbing and suspenseful. A first-rate thriller.”
–The Dallas Morning News

“Walker makes it hard for readers to catch their breath.” –The Plain Dealer

“Will absorb you in its mystery plot, transport you with its sense of place, and enthrall you with its characters.”–Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When true-crime reporter Molly Cates's father died more than twenty-five years ago, his death was ruled a suicide, and Molly's obsessive efforts to prove otherwise led to nothing but anguish and the breakup of her family. Now new information comes her way and she reopens the old investigation with a vengeance, but the answers she finally wrests from the past leave her with a moral dilemma she never anticipated. Her quest becomes even more painful when Molly encounters a homeless woman who insists she knows about a secret plot to kill everyone in the Texas legislature. By the time she convinces Molly it's true, it may be too late to prevent disaster.

SYNOPSIS

When true-crime reporter Molly Cates's father died more than twenty-five years ago, his death was ruled a suicide, and Molly's efforts to prove otherwise led to nothing but anguish and the breakup of her family. Now, with access to new information, she is determined to reopen the investigation, but the answers she finds are devastating and leave her with an even more difficult moral dilemma. To make matters worse, while caught up in her own misery, Molly becomes aware of a terrifying plot to kill everyone in the Texas State Legislature—a conspiracy only she will be able to stop, if she can get there in time!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

While napping under the deck of an Austin, Tex., restaurant, a homeless woman called Cow Lady is awakened by talk overhead of a lethal gas soon to be released in the Texas State Capitol building. From there, Walker switches to the Capitol building, where Molly Cates, an investigative reporter last seen in Under the Beetle's Cellar (1995), is working on a story about the upcoming vote on a handgun bill. Cates runs into the man who had been sheriff when her father died 25 years earlier. Although her father's death by gunshot was judged suicide, Cates has never given up her belief that he was murdered and that the sheriff suppressed evidence of the crime. She's determined to resume her intensive personal investigation, despite the advice of her lover (who is also her former husband) and old family friends, including a state senator and his wife. Cates is out of town when a homeless womannot Cow Lady but wearing Cow Lady's black and white coatis murdered. From its compelling beginning to the extended conclusion, which moves from the depths of a garbage dump to the Capitol, Walker conjures a memorable, disparate cast. Only a few seams show as she connects the political conspiracy, the homeless community and the unexpectedand entirely satisfyingexplanation for the death of Cates's father. (May)

Library Journal

Texas-born actress Judith Ivey reads this third book in Mary Willis Walker's highly acclaimed mystery series featuring Molly Cates, magazine journalist for Lone Star Monthly (see The Red Scream, Audio Reviews, LJ 6/1/96). Molly is simultaneously researching a highly charged bill before the Texas legislature that would permit the granting of licenses to carry concealed weapons and a story about five homeless women that tracks them through a year of their lives. She becomes further distracted by the reappearance of key players related to her father's untimely death 28 years earlier-officially ruled a suicide, although Molly had at the time tried unsuccessfully to prove otherwise. Walker is deft at weaving the many strands of this plot into a cohesive and suspenseful fabric, and her characters come alive despite the abridgment. Ivey is an excellent choice for reader of the Molly Cates series, delivering the voices of the region in all their diversity. Recommended.--Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA

Kirkus Reviews

Though she's put in her time on wild and wooly cases (Under the Beetle's Cellar, 1995, etc.), Lone Star Monthly writer Molly Cates has never run her biggest story to earth: the mystery of her father Vernon's death, labeled a suicide by everybody but Molly for nearly 30 years. Now a chance sighting of Franny Lawrence Quinlan, Vernon's ex-fianc￯﾿ﾽe, and Olin Crocker, the crooked sheriff Molly is convinced killed the investigation, puts her back on the scent, even though everybody she talks toþfrom her godparents, Parnell and Rose Morrisey, to Frank Quinlan, the rival she was convinced had pulled the trigger to prevent Vernon's expos￯﾿ﾽ of his family's oil companyþtells her the evidence of suicide is clear, and she'll be sorry if she reopens the case. Meantime, a second, even more momentous story is knocking on her door, if only she'd listen: Sarah Jane Hurley, a.k.a. Cow Lady, a friend of a retarded bag lady Molly interviewed for a story on street people, has overheard a plot to end the debate on a proposed law to allow concealed handguns by blowing up the Senate chambers, together with all those mostly unarmed legislators, in the Austin State House. Searingly effective grace notes by the dozenþMolly's merciless badgering of her senile Aunt Harriet for evidence, her interview with a feisty former hooker, her fear that plotting revenge against Olin Crocker is turning her into one of the vigilantes she despisesþbring Walker's conventional double plot to a vivid life. (Literary Guild selection; Mystery Guild selection; author tour)